


Smoke and Shadow

by Dead4play



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 17:00:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dead4play/pseuds/Dead4play
Summary: David is assigned to a newly formed Specialized Response Team, Shadow Squad. A team whose sole objective is targeting gangs and organisations famed for stealing pokemon, but what happens to pokemon that were not taken from a trainer? What happens if a pokemon falls for him? Will he be able to return those feelings? -/Warning: Contains Pokephilia/-





	1. Prologue

Prologue:   
November XXXX, LOCATION UNDEFINED.  
‘If they stand behind you, protect them. If they stand with you, respect them. If they stand as your enemy, show them no mercy.’ An odd mantra considering my job David pondered. We live in a world created by a singular all-powerful being, populated with monsters that could kill a human with a single blow and our response was to catching them, training them, battling them, raising them, studying them and in some cases keeping them as pets. 

David let out a sigh as the whine of jet engines filled the troop bay of the dropship, the sound softened only by the sound of the wind rushing in from the open aft doors. 

“Airman, how much further till we reach Oracle Station. I’m starting to get a little antsy back here.” David groaned over his radio.

“Not much farther now sir,” said a voice over the radio “We are flying over Rustboro City now, Eta to Oracle Station about 10 minutes.”

Unfastening himself from one of the many seats in the troop bay David stood up and moved closer to the open aft door making sure he held the bulkhead tightly as he looking out over the large town as the flew overhead. He wasn’t able to get a good look at the town, David was able to see a range of buildings from high-rises to the all too familiar sight of red and blue buildings no doubt to be the local Pokémon centre and mart. He could just make out the sight of people on the streets walking around some with Pokémon. 

The view was gone faster that David could take it all in, replaced with dense bushland probably swarming with all species of Pokémon. A sudden shift shook the dropship causing him to stumble slightly if it wasn’t for the fact that he was still holding onto the bulkhead David would have flown right out the rear door.

The sudden voice of the pilot came over the radio “Sorry for that Corporal, Flock of wingull just flew in our path. We didn’t lose you back there did we?” 

Forcing a chuckle David started walking to the cockpit door “It will take a lot more than that to get rid of me airman.” He laughed as he entered.

David looked at the airman who flinched slightly at his presence. Shifting his view to the windscreen he saw his new home for his current deployment, Oracle Station. One of the smaller bases that David had seen, it more resembled a research facility rather than a League Specialized Response Team (SRT) outpost. There were 3 major buildings that caught his eye, two buildings resembling office buildings but the windows were darker than night. Both buildings were topped with air pad, with smaller aircraft landing and taking off. The last building was a dome-like structure which looked to be made up of hexagon panel, each panel had a golden hue to it.

“Better get your gear ready Lieutenant I won’t be putting this bird on the ground.” The voice of the pilot shaking David out of his thoughts.

“Right,” David said, moving back into the troop bay.

After retrieving his duffel bags filled with everything he will need for his stint at the outpost, slinging one of the duffel bags over his right shoulder David moved towards the aft doors. Gone was the forest which had been replaced with the black metal finish of an air pad, upon which stood three people and two Pokémon. The three people seemed to be looking directly at him whilst the pokemon stared at the airship. The first was a white male clad in black combat armour, he had seedot coloured hair and pale gold eyes. The second was a tanned looking male dressed in a military uniform, he wore a green Patrol cap and was halfway through a cigar smoke escaping through the sides of his mouth. The last was a sandy coloured female, a researcher by the looks of it if the lab coat didn’t already give it away. She had dark purple hair and teal eyes making her stand out the most of the three. The researcher was flanked on both sides by the Pokémon; both bipedal the first was red with accents of beige, yellow, and grey a slight chicken-like appearance confirming it as Blaziken a native to the Hoenn region. The second was a Pokémon that David had never seen before, more canine-like, with fur that is predominantly blue and black with a small round spike on each of its forepaws with a third on its chest. 

As David disembarked the airship the group approached, the sound of the jet engine firing up making it hard for him to hear much of anything.

“Corporal” came a booming voice from the first man, as the airship took off towards its next destination “It’s good to have new blood grace us, welcome to Oracle Station. I’m Captain Samuel Wall..., “ was all Samuel was able to get out before getting cut off by the young researcher.

“Hiiiii I'm Dr Joyce Mercy.” Rushed the researcher, looking at David enthusiastically “OH MY ARCEUS, It’s so good to get a new face out here I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table Mr Ummm...” she squealed in excitement as she bounded up to David with an outstretched hand.

“Lance Corporal David Kanter ma'am,” replied David returned with his own hand as she grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. David recoiled slightly with the pure pressure that she was outputting.

“Come on Joyce no need to rip his arm off on his first day here.” Chuckled the second man as he put out his cigar and stowing it for later. “Colonel Flint Lockhart.” it was his turn to shake Davids' hand, It was a strong and formal one giving David an idea on what Colonel Flint was like. “Just call me Flint and follow my orders to the letter and we’ll get along just fine recruit,” He said in a gruff voice, nodding his head at David. 

Davids view returned to Samuel, who was glaring at Dr Joyce. Joyce let out a small squeak before Samuel spoke up again moving in for a handshake of his own. ”Well as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I am Captain Samuel Wallander,” Samuel said shaking Davids' hand, the handshake was similar to flints but colder due to the armour plates on his hands.  
A small growl came from behind the group from the two pokemon catching David slightly off-guard.

“Ahhhh where are my manners,” Joyce exclaimed following David’s gaze. ”Allow me to introduce you to Talon the Blaziken and Fang the Lucario” Talon and Fang nodded at David, a gesture that he returned.

“I-It's nice to meet you both.” David stuttered slightly, “Wait, a Lucario, so that’s what he is. I’ve never seen one before, I was under the impression that they could only be found in the Sinnoh region.”

Joyce smiled “Lucario can be found in many different regions however my one is from Sinnoh, it was his birthplace as is mine.”

A small cough came from Samuel, making Davids’ focus return to him. “Well Corporal, we have plenty more introductions to do so I think I’ll show you where you will be staying while you are here.”

“Well I’ll leave the tour to you then Samuel, I have a very long day ahead of me. If you wish to speak to me soldier, Samuel here will be able to give you the directions to my office.” Huffed Flint as he started on his way to one of the exits of the air pad.

Whilst David watched him leave a purple blur jumped next to David, “I’m sadly in the same boat and I would have loved to give you the tour myself, but I have a number of people and Pokémon to look after so sorry.” Joyce frowned mockingly, before starting to walk away tailed by her Pokémon. “Oh yeah. Come visit me in the lab after you get situated, I need to give you a physical.” She said giving David a wink, before continuing walking towards the large exit of the air pad.

“Well… I think she likes you.” Samuel chuckled before turning to face David, “All right let’s get a move on we are burning daylight.” With that said, Samuel turned and started to walk towards the air pad exit. “I’m glad to have you on the team David, reading over your file I’m surprised you hadn’t been snapped up by the other fireteams already. Trained to mastery of hand to hand combat, long range, close quarters and to top off the list medically trained to support human as well as Pokémon.” Samuel turns to David with a smirk. “Seriously is there anything you can’t do?”

“You picked me, sir? I wasn’t aware of that.” A hint of surprise in David’s voice as they entered an elevator.

“Yes, I did. I’ll say this now though, there will be no solo missions for you here. You are now part of a team.” Samuel said eyeing David looking for his reaction.

“Sir, yes sir” David nodded.

“Good to hear” Samuel stated, exiting the elevator. The duo started moving through a maze of hallways.

“Now.” Samuel paused walking up to a door and tapping away at a small transmitter that was on his wrist. “You were given a Pokedex before you arrived, correct?” David nodded, “Good, permissions should have gone through. The Pokedex will be your main passport for this base, it is your personal Pokedex, ID, access card and Room Key so don’t lose it or the requisitions department will have your head.”

David pulled the little red device out of his pocket and looked at it. “That device will give you access to most if not all areas of Oracle Station, all you need to do is tap it near the terminal next to any of the doors and it will let you in if you have the clearance that is.” Samuel taped his wrist-mounted device to a small terminal at the side of the door and immediately the door slid open. “there are three main buildings to Oracle the one we are currently in is the barracks, this will be your bunk.”

“We get a room to ourselves, sir?” David sounding surprised, normally bunks were mixed in together not leaving much privacy. All through basic training, he was housed in bays, having to share both living space and showers. 

Walking into the room David was shocked to see the size of his new living quarters. On the left side of the room was a bed and nightstand with a small holographic alarm clock, further down was a small grey couch. in front of the couch was a small wood framed coffee table with a smoked glass centre. To the right side of the room was a medium flat screen tv next to a small desk with a computer on it, closer to the door was a large wardrobe and a small cubby next to the door for what David guessed was to put his boots. The room also came with its own en-suite bathroom, which contained all the essentials such as a shower, toilet and sink.

“More than you’re used to huh?” Samuel chuckled, “What you will be doing here at Oracle will be fairly stressful David, all members of SRT have similar rooms. It's a place to relax after a stressful day at work, in any case, we're here to just drop off your stuff you can get settled later.”

David dropped the duffle bags on his new bed and walked to the door, still in shock at the size of the room that he will call his home for the duration of his deployment.

“Oracle Station consists of 3 major sections the first is the Barracks where we currently are.” stated Samuel, “ The second is deployment, it's the building adjacent to this one. It's where we go for briefing, getting supplied and setting out on assignment. It is also there that you will find Colonel Flints office.” Samuel turned his head to David.

“The third and final section is the medical and research centre, it's the large golden dome. If you or a pokemon are hurt you go to the research centre they will fix anything wrong, it is also the lair of Dr Joyce Mercy.” As both exited a hall David found they had just entered a large room filled with a few sofas, a few tables, a pingpong table and a pool table. There were a few people around some even being accompanied by pokemon.

“This is our recreation room, as I said before our line of work tends to be stressful and this place is by far the best place to come relax and meet new people.” just as Samuel said that a woman with short blue hair jumped over one of the couches and made a beeline straight for the two of them.

“So this the new guy?” she asked, eyeing David up and down like a piece of meat. “I thought you would be taller.” a small black pokemon trailed her, it had a sleek black body with four slender legs. David immediately identified it as an Umbreon but there was something different about it, the markings on its body were blue not the golden yellow they were known for and its eyes instead of being a dark crimson shone a beautiful gold.

“Ah Lucy I didn't know you were here, I thought you would still be at the training ground.” Samuel scratched his head, “David this is First Lieutenant Lucy Verdile. She is my second in command and this is her Umbreon Midnight.”

“Lance Corporal David Kanter, Nice to meet you both” he outstretched his hand which she gladly met with a firm handshake.

“Likewise.” she smiled.

“Umbre-Umbreon.” the little black pokemon cried happily.

Davids attention drew to Midnight“ I thought Umbreon's eyes were red with gold markings.”  
“Umbre Um-bre breon.” she Smiled at David, who was looking between Lucy and Midnight with a confused look on his face. 

“She just said that she is what is known as a shiny pokemon, I take it you haven't gone for implantation yet have you.” sighed Lucy.

“Implanted ma’am?” with a look of even more confusion David turned to Samuel in hope for an explanation.

“Ah, that probably what Doc wants you for.” Samuel started scratching his head, “Yeah all members of Shadow Squad have been outfitted with a device that allows us to understand pokespeech. Think those pokemon translator devices that you can strap to your ear except this one is tiny and is implanted into your brain.”

“Wait you mean that Doctor Joyce wants to crack open my skull and stick something in my brain just so I can understand what a pokemon says.” David flinched, with fear in his voice and an image of Dr Joyce laughing like a mad scientist in his mind.

“Relax would ya,” Lucy smiled whilst letting out a giggle. “The process is quick and quite painless, you might get a slight headache from it for a day or two but it's nothing an Oran berry and a glass of milk won't fix. In our line of work, being able to understand pokemon is crucial .”

David rolled his eyes. “There it is again, our line of work. May I inquire, in what line of duty I have been assigned to. The only information that I received before arriving here from Apex base was that I was being sent to Oracle Station and that I would be briefed on my duties on arrival.”

Lucy and Samuel looked at each other before Samuel turned back to face David.

“As you already know I chose you. With all your qualifications I believed you to be the best candidate to fill in the final spot in Shadow Squad. It is our job like many fireteams, to capture facilities of illegal gangs and organisations. These gangs or organisations normally are ones famed for stealing pokemon from trainers, it is our job to capture these facilities and recover the pokemon.” Samuel stated, his hand moving to his chin. “The pokemon are then transported here to Oracle before being processed. Stolen pokemon are returned to the trainers that initially caught them and pokemon caught by gangs or organisations will be rehabilitated and released into the wild.”

“I see...” David said bluntly, slowly processing the information. “Well then … Glad to be onboard then sir.”

“Glad to hear that.” Lucy and Samuel said in unison, turning to look at each other.

“Umbre.” Midnight purred happily rubbing against Davids' leg, as he bent down and scratched her behind her ear as she continued to purr.

“She said that she is happy to have you on board.” Lucy smiled looking at David and how Midnight reacted to his touch.

“Is she on the team as well?” he asked continuing to scratch Midnight as the glow from her blue rings started to grow brighter.

“No, our team consists of Human personnel only,” said Lucy nonchalantly. “I’ve had Midnight since I was a little girl, I had to get permission to allow her to stay here with me. A little bit of paperwork never killed anybody before, and it is worth it to have a friend like her around. Another plus is, she is able to assist with pokemon rehabilitation so it's a win-win.”

“Do you have any pokemon, David?” Samuel asked, beginning to notice how Umbreon seemed to be in bliss at his touch. “Coz you really know how to treat a pokemon.”

David froze at Samuels question and ceased petting Midnight, the pokemon pouting looking back at David hoping he would continue. “No… my parents had a Poochyena when I was smaller.I would normally play with and pet him the same way. I was also taught how to interact with pokemon during my pokemon medical training.” He chuckled nervously, hoping he wasn't coming across as weird.

“Haha, well I think it shows your ability with pokemon, Midnight is a little bit fussy and normally take a while to warm up to new people.” Lucy grinned, “Welp we should let you both continue with the tour, Oh and David if you need anything, my room is 214 it's on the third floor.”   
As David waved to the departing duo, he couldn't help but notice the Umbreon talking to Lucy with a blush on her face. ‘huh, maybe midnight is shyer than I thought.’ he thought. A small tap from Samuel, however, brought David back to reality.

As they continued on with the tour, Samuel was able to show David all the facilities offered at Oracle Station. The base was like nothing David had ever seen before. The tour took them both to the mess hall, shooting range and training area all seemed normal for a military base but then out of the blue a came a fifty-metre pool. The tour ended as they both made their way back to the recreation room, David was still processing everything that he was just shown.

“Well, I think it's time I left you to your own devices now, If you have any more issues, don't hesitate to ask around.”Samuel gave David one last handshake before turning to leave, “ Ah before I forget, you will be fully incorporated into shadow squad after the augmentation procedure so I ask you get it done tomorrow so we can add you to the roster. Good luck corporal, and again welcome to Oracle Station.”

With that David was left alone in the mostly silent rec room, ‘Sooo what to do now, little late to go and see Dr Joyce.’ he pondered as he looked at his watch. ‘ten o'clock might be a good idea to sort out my room then.’ 

David moved out of the room heading in the direction of the elevator. After twenty minutes of trying to gather his bearings, David finally reached the door of his bunk. Stepping inside, David took off his boots and placed them in the small cubby. Next was unpacking his bags, David put away all of the clothes in his new wardrobe before finally collapsing onto the bed.

‘Well, I definitely think this place will be interesting’ he thought slowly drifting asleep.


	2. Augmentation

NOVEMBER XXXX, ORACLE STATION.  
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* David blindly swung his arm over in an attempt to shut off the alarm.  
*Click*  
“Goooood morning,” said a familiar voice.

Sitting up he looked over to the clock, ‘What in Giratina's name...’ he thought before shifting over and taking a better look at the clock. 

“Oh your not even up yeah, oops.” went the disembodied voice.

“Ummm, hello?” stuttered David sitting up and looking around the room.

“Down here on your nightstand darling,” said the voice, looking in that direction David spotted a small holographic projection. On it was a live feed of Dr Joyce, she was looking at David trying to stifle a giggle.

“Welp didn't know this was a thing,” David stated blankly.

“Sorry for the wake-up call David but I wanted to let you know I need you to come by around ten thirty for augmentation.” Joyce smiled, “The process will take about twenty to thirty minutes and needs to be done right away. Colonel Flint has informed me that he wants you deployment ready ASAP.”

“I'll be there Doctor,” replied David with a nod.

“Great, the laboratory number is B Three hundred and twelve. Don't make me wait.” Winking, Dr Joyce's image disappeared and was replaced with the time.

Looking again at the clock he noted the time, ‘eight o'clock, I best get up then.’

Jumping up, David looked around the room. There was still a bit of a mess left over from unpacking last night but that would have to wait till later. Noting that he was still wearing the clothes that he arrived in, David moved to the bathroom. Stepping inside he started to take off his shirt, spying himself in the mirror it was hard to believe that the person staring back was him. David was always as skinny but over the last year he had transformed from a twig to a log, well not a log as such but definitely a thick branch. Flexing his right bicep was now met with a large bulge, his pecs once soft and flabby were now solid and more defined. Moving his gaze to his head he was met with deep blue eyes and platinum wavy hair that was currently all over the place. Snapping back to reality David leaned into the shower and turned on the hot water, he then started removing the rest of his clothes before jumping in.

After the shower and getting dressed, David headed towards the mess hall. The mess hall reminded him of a school cafeteria, rows upon rows of long tables with a range of circular tables to the western side of the hall. Jumping onto the line to get served, David looked ahead to see what was on the menu. There was a nice selection of food consisting of eggs, omelets, cereals, fruits, berries, as well as a range of breads and pastries.On top of having human food the cafeteria also had a range of pokemon food as well, laid out on the counter were various poffins, poke puffs and kibble. At the end of the food bar was coolers of water and juices. There was also a coffee machine.

Reaching the top of the serving station, David began to choose what he wanted. Not wanting to pick anything heavy, he chose a fruit salad, a razz berry muffin and a simple cup of black coffee. Now the hard part, finding a place to sit. In the course of 10 minutes the tables had started to be filled to capacity. After walking around for a minute something caught Davids eye, in his peripheral vision he saw someone waving. Turning his head to get a better view he saw the blue hair of Lucy, she was sitting at one of the round tables. To her left sat Midnight happily snacking on a bowl of kibble, looking up slightly she stopped eating seeing David approach. They were not the only ones at the table, sitting to Lucy's right was girl around the same age with long black hair tied back into a ponyta-tail. Across the table sat a man around the same age as David, he had green eyes and dark blonde hair. Both were eyeing him curiously as he approached, when he was close enough all three stood up as Lucy took as step towards him.

“Hey hey, you looked a little lost there David. The fire-team tables are over here,” Lucy chuckled.

“I wasn't aware that fire-teams got their own tables.” chuckled David moving close to the table.

“Bah, i knew Samuel would probably forget to say something about it. Anyway,” Turning to gesture to the others at the table. “Let me introduce you to the other members of Shadow Squad. This lovely lady here is Corporal Alice Reindl.”

Putting his food tray on the table next to Midnight, David extended his hand to her.

“Nice to meet you,” Alice said whilst shaking David hand. Her voice was soft, with almost motherly vibe to it. Her handshake was the same, gentle but firm. Not the type handshake one would expect from someone from a specialized response team.

“And the final member Corporal Soren Polya.” Lucy pointed to the man with dark blonde hair.

Walking around the table slightly Soren came around for his own handshake.

“Pleasure tae be workin' wi' ya,” Soren smiled. His accent was one David had never heard before, it was definitely not from hoenn at least. His handshake was rough, with a tight grip. Though it was nothing to the shoulder dislocating handshake Dr Joyce gave hi. 

“Umbreon! Umbre breon.” exclaimed Midnight happily, pawing the seat next to her.

“Midnight said good morning and that you should sit next to her.” Lucy chuckled as the three returned to their seats.

Smiling at Midnight, David gave her a good morning of his own. He also accepted her offer, taking the seat next to her. 

“I've never heard that accent before, where are you from Soren?” David asked, his eyes locking with Sorens.

“Johtae is mah home region, aam nae surprised 'at ye huvnae heard it before tho.” Soren laughed, “The accent tis bonnie common around Olivine city.”

“Ah, i see.” David smiled, “I haven't met very many people from Johto before, I'm actually from Hoenn myself.”

“Really so am I,” Piped up Alice. “Where exactly, I'm from Lavaridge Town.”

“Oh really, I'm actually from Verdanturf town myself.” smiled David, “I've actually been to Lavaridge before, I went the on holidays with my parents when i was younger. They have the best hot springs in Hoenn.” David said, picking up his razz berry muffin and taking a bite.

“Verdanturf huh, wow that's not too far from Oracle Station.” She smiled back, “I think I've been there before but only in passing. My family used the Rusturf Tunnel to get to Rustboro quicker, I have family there.” 

“What about you Lucy, where are you two from?” David said slightly mumbling, due to having taken another bite of his muffin.

“Midnight and I are from Malie City, on Ula'ula Island in Alola.” stated Lucy nonchalant.

After about ten minutes of stories, the four had finished their meals and the topic had changed back to David once again.

“Sae David Ah heard 'at ye huvnae hae th' augmentation yit, ” he eyed David, his tone becoming a little bit more serious. “Has doctur joyce booked ye in?”

“Yeah, booked me in today around ten thirty. It seems Colonel Flint wants me ready for deployment asap.” Davids voice showed his nervousness, looking into his coffee up. “In all seriousness, what is the procedure like?”

Alice was the first to speak up, her voice seaming to calm down and reassure David. “The procedure itself is relatively painless, they drill small holes on both sides of your skull as well as the back, before implanting three tiny chips onto the the brain.”

“Aye, it only hurts fur a wee bit when th' drill hits th' skin” Soren piped up. “Efter 'at totally numb.”  
Alice, Lucy and Midnight glared at Soren. His attempt to reassure David only seeming to succeed in darkening his fears of the upcoming procedure.

“Whit, aam bein' honest.” he replied to the glares, “Aam more surprised by th' fact 'at him gettin' it dain sae early, when Ah arrived haur it took me three weeks afair they pit me ben augmentation.”

“Yeah, but you don't have the credentials like David here dose.” Lucy said turning to David, “Trust me you will be fine, nobody has died from the procedure.” As soon as she had said that David seemed to calm down a little bit.

“Yet.” Soran added, laughing.

The glares were back, this only prompted Soran to laugh harder.

It was Midnight's turn to try and comfort David, crawling into his lap she popped her front paws on his chest.

“Umbreon, um umbre.” Midnight spoke, her golden eyes looking deep into his. 

Sighing David put his hand on Midnights head, giving it a light pet.

“I’ll be honest if that really does allow me to understand pokespeech, then i look forward to getting it so i can have a proper conversation with you Midnight.” He said as Midnight nuzzled into his hand, spurring him to stroke harder.

“Its ten fifteen now, you know.” Lucy said looking at her watch, “Tell you what, we’ll walk you over.”

“That would be great, thanks.” smiled David, as Midnight jumped off of his lap.

Taking their food trays to the waste station and clearing them, the five of them headed out. Exiting out of the barracks, the group was met with a sunlit glass walkway that overlooked a dense garden oasis. Below the group could see people and pokemon, most of the people seemed to be researchers with the odd soldier mixed in. On the other hand the pokemon were mostly first form pokemon, with the odd second stage here and there. Slowing slightly David took in the sight, on the tour around the facility yesterday the area below the walkway was clear of people and pokemon. Now however there were pokemon playing happily.

“All those pokemon are ones that we’ve taken from the grunts of the organisations that we have raided.” Lucy said, moving beside David. She watched as two Zigzagoons chased each other, seemingly playing a game of tag. “They are the few that we retain from raiding said organisations.”

“They look very happy,” David commented, as he began to watch the same two Zigzagoons.

“They ur th' lucky ones.” Soren piped up, looking the other direction at a few Rattata who were scurrying in and out of bushes. “These ones waur used in battle an' ur treated better, we hae seen mony worse aff. some dornt make it.” Stopping his gaze lifted, as he watched a pair of Taillow performing aerial acrobatics for no audience in particular.

“That is the reason the SRT was formed.” Replied Lucy. “We are the ones who bring those who want to abuse pokemon for their own personal gain. Thieves, smugglers and black market sellers they are some of the type of bastards that we take down.” Her tone was cold like ice, David could understand the hatred in her voice. Nobody should ever have to go through that type of treatment, not even pokemon.

Continuing on David marveled at the range of pokemon being kept at Oracle Station, pokemon from a range of regions were being cared for on site. David noted pokemon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola. Even though David was well versed in pokemon species, there were still some that even he couldn't identify after all not everyone is able to remember over eight hundred plus species of pokemon.

Soon the five of them came across a round observation platform, around the sides of this area were benches where people and pokemon sat watching those below. In the centre there were two spiral staircases leading down to a grass area below, in between those was a circular elevator carrying a few pokemon researchers and their pokemon back up to the observation area. On the western side of the platform there was a walkway similar to the one they just arrived from, however that one led to the deployment building. There was also a short walkway leading to the large golden dome to the north of the platform. Walking close to the dome a sign could be seen over the entrance that read ‘Medical Center’. Feeling something brush up against his leg, David looked down. Midnight was sitting next to him, looking up at him with a smile. Entering through the sliding doors the group was met with a hospital styled reception.

“This way,” said Lucy, turing and walking towards hallway. “The labs are on the second floor.”

Following Lucy, the group found a elevator bay. Looking back David saw the walls of the dome from the inside, they acted as extremely tinted windows that allowed anyone to see out. A ding from the elevator bay redrew Davids attention, the doors slid open and the group quickly piled in. Lucy tapped on a button on the elevators control pad that said labs, she then followed that up by tapping a device agents a temanal. Like Samuel, Lucy wore a pokedex on her wrist.

“Dam, where can i get one of those. They are more convenient than having to lug around this old thing,“ David chuckled, pulling out his pokedex.

“Prove yerself oan a raid an' ye micht be able tae gie one yerself,” Soren smirked, holding out his wrist to show off his own pokedex. Unlike Samuels’ and Lucy's black pokedexes, Sorens’ wrist mounted pokedex was hot rod red.

“You are one to boast, you only got your one last week.” smirked Alice, crossing her arms and showing off her hot pink pokedex.

“Im the only one that doesn't have one,” David sulked looking down at the floor where midnight sat giggling at his reaction.

Reaching the second floor the group were met with a long hallway, researchers dotted the hallway looking through windows. Walking along the hallway David couldn't help but look through one of the windows, inside he could see researchers carrying out experiments on pokemon. Most of the labs look like they were testing chemicals on the pokemon, and just before he could ask about it the group came to a abrupt stop.  
“Here we are David, lab B Three hundred and twelve the dreaded lair of doctor Joyce Mercy and look were just on time.” Lucy smiled turning to face David, “Unfortunately this is as far as we can go, well meet up after the procedure ok.”

“Joyce is the best in her feld you have nothing to worry about.” Alice added.

“Yeah Alice is right,” Soren said placing his hand on David's shoulder. 

“Beron.” piped up Midnight.

The four waved goodbye to David, before walking back down the hallway. David turned his attention back to the door, swallowing hard he walked up to it and tapped his pokedex on the terminal next to the door causing it to slide open rapidly. Stepping inside he was stopped by Blaziken and Lucario, after eyeing him up for a few seconds they stepped aside allowing him full access to the lab. The next thing David saw was a dark purple lunge at him and grabbing his hand.

“Excellent your right on time,” Beamed the enthusiastic doctor. “ I was worried that you had forgotten.”

“No, ma’am.” David said, still taken back by the doctors demeanor. “If I need to get this done, then i will have it done.”

“Well put.” Joyce smiled, letting go of his hand and walking to a table in the center of the room.

Laboratory itself was of a cold dark steel color, around the room were various computers and holographic displays. Three displays caught David’s eye, on them were his medical records dating back to when he was just a child. Looking back to Dr Joyce, David could see her fiddling with the table she had just walked to. The table itself was made of stainless steel with two padded arms restraints positioned on either side of the the table, attached to the ceiling above the table was a device that looked similar a device that dentists use to shine light into a patient's mouth. The only difference being that there were multiple robotic arms protruding from it, three were attached with thin needle like drills and the rest with equally sharp looking equipment.

“Before we start David,” Joyce turned to look at him, causing him to flinch as he focused on her. “ Are there any questions about the procedure?”

“What is the procedure? David's view returned to the device above the table.

“The implant of augmentation chips onto your occipital lobe as well as your temporal lobes, by doing this you will be granted improved vision as well as the ability to understand pokemons natural speech.” She smiled, picking up a small data pad and reading its contents.

“Why is it that I have to go through this procedure and how will it allow me to understand pokespeech?” David looked on as Joyce continued to look at here data pad.

“Well you see david, you may already know this but the occipital lobe controls vision and the temporal lobes control hearing and well as your sense of smell, taste and short-term memory. The two chips that we attach to your temporal lobes are able to process what you hear, human or pokemon.” Joyce said looking up from her datapad, “If a pokemon speaks then the chips translate what said pokemon is saying to english, you understand. The occipital chip will strengthen you vision allowing you to see further as well night vision. As for why you need to go through this procedure is to be as effective as possible with any scenario and as you will be working with pokemon you will need it.”

“I see,” David said looking down contemplatively before letting out a sigh. “All right, what do I need to do?” 

Joyce looked at David with a smile, any trace of fear that was once on his face was now gone.

“All right, let's get this party started then shall we.” Joyce cheered happily. “Well first things first, I need you to take off your shirt and hop onto this table.”

A slight blush came over Davids face as he started to undress himself, taking off his shirt David folded it and placed it down on a adjacent table.

“Good, now all I need you to do is lie down face first.” Joyce instructed, pointing to a part of the table that could only be described as metal neck brace.

Laying down the brace locked down around Davids neck, cutting off head movement. Watching as best as he could he saw both Talon and Fang grabbed hold of his arms and placed them into the two padded arms restraints locking them in place.

“Geez Doc, I wouldn't have pegged you as the type of girl who was into this.” Joked David, trying to lighten the mood.

“Funny that's what they all say,” she retorted, putting on a mocking seductive tone.

Walking back to the table and getting close to David's head, Joyce produced a flat rubber looking rectangle and held it to his mouth.

“Here bite on this, it will help with any pain and stop you from swallowing your tongue if something goes wrong.” Joyce played the last part off as a joke. Taking the rubber guard into his mouth, Joyce leaned back in. “Oh by the way, the safe word is Chrysanthemum.”

That was able to get a muffled laugh out of her patient, moving back to the main desk David could see her typing way at her keyboard. After what felt like five minutes, Joyce turned back and looked at David.

“Alright, we are ready to start the procedure.” said joyce, tapping on her datapad.  
The sounds of a unseen machine hummed to life, well unseen to David. Unbeknownst to him the device that was attached to the ceiling above the table had started to move, slowly it started lowering itself down and positioning itself near Davids head. Two hollow needle like drills started to position themselves at either side of David's head just above his ears, the third position itself at the back of his skull. David's heart started to pound harder and harder, the sounds of the machine being defined out buy the sounds of his own heart beat. Suddenly the needle like drills started to spin up with a whirl, David’s blood ran cold. Inching closer and closer, David shut his eyes as the sight of the drills in his peripherals was beginning to make him panic.

All three drills made contact with exact precision, the needle like design of the drill bits stopped any possibility of ripping a chunk of flesh from the hard bone underneath. David however, was in a world of pain, his eye were clenched and his jaw locked down on the rubber guard. Every muscle in his body tensed up wishing to break free from the restraints and end the pain. It was a good thing it was stifling his cries of pain or else he would be cursing bloody murder. Breaking through the thin amount of skin and muscle fibre that protected the skull, the drills started grinding its way through the thick bone. The sound of his heartbeat replaced with the the grinding of the drill bits cutting its way into his skull.

*Tack* 

They were through, the small sound of the drills breaking through only audible to David who had eased up on the rubber guard and was now panting like a Growlithe. Drool poured from the corners of his mouth, slowly pooling just below where his head was resting. 

“Almost done David, all that left is to attach the chips to the correct lobes and we are done.” Piped up Joyce, her voice calming David down.

*BEEP* *BEEP**BEEP*

Suddenly out of nowhere, the main console on the doctor's desk started to beep rapidly, panicked Joyce rushed to the console and started furiously mashing the keys on her keyboard. David was numb for all but 10 seconds before a sharp pain ran through the head, it was like a shock of electricity running up and down his brain. The pain was too much for David to handle, with a guttural scream his whole body shook and convulsed trying to break free from his restraints. The machine above retracted the drills with a sudden jerk leaving the holes that were left to seep blood, slowly David's world started to go black as the screams of doctor Joyce slowly faded into the void.


	3. Damage Control

Chapter 2:   
NOVEMBER XXXX, ORACLE STATION.  
“URGH… My head.” With a groggy groan, David blinked back to life. His head was screaming out in pain, a stiff uncomfortable pain. The overhead lights were blinding, forcing him to cover his eyes with one of his arms. Just as he did so, the lights seemed to dim, their hum drowning out the silence.

“I am never doing that again,” He moaned to nobody in particular.

“You won't have to.” Came the nervous sounding voice of a certain purple haired doctor.

“What happened doc, I couldn't even say the safeword.” David chuckled as he forced himself to sit up. “ I think that gag got in the way.”

“I'm so so so sorry,” She looked back at David, tears starting to well in her eyes. “I didn't know you would have such a violent reaction to the augmentation process.”

“It's fine doc, I knew I wasn't going to die from it.” A smirk forming on David’s lips.

“I don't understand.” Joyce's eyes shot to his, confusion etched in her gaze.

“I didn't see my life flash before my eyes.” David laughed.

“THAT'S NOT FUNNY,” she choked, her eyes glazing over on the verge of tears again. “You got hurt, It was my responsibility and I could have gotten you killed.”

David saw the fear in her eyes, he already knew the stakes from undergoing a procedure like that. Any medical procedure that involves the brain was risky but sometimes you need to have a bit of risk to make the reward that much sweeter.

“I wasn't killed”, he said staring into her eyes. “Not everything will go to plan sometimes, all you can do is learn from your mistake and make sure it never happens again.” The seriousness in his tone seemed to calm her down, the tears in her eyes stopped.

“In any case did the procedure work, are the chips functioning?”

“After you blacked out all I was focusing on was keeping you alive, I didn't run diagnostics.” She said looking down slightly. “I think we should wait till we know you're in the clear before doing anything else.”

“You know... I hate leaving a job unfinished, It's one of my biggest pet peeves.” David responded, Joyce now looked into his now golden eyes.

 

“You are incorrigible, you know that. I fear that I'll be seeing you a lot during your deployment.” Joyce said turning her back to David.

“Eh… you say that like its a bad thing,” David stated nonchalantly.

Joyce moved in the direction of a small table in the corner of the room, upon which was a datapad and a small hand mirror. She picked up the datapad first and slid it into a side pocket on her lab coat, she then picked up the hand mirror and started to move back towards the hospital bed.

“There was one major change I… noticed. It seems that the chip designed to enhance your eyesight had a slight malfunction.” She held the mirror close to her chest as she got closer to David.

“Oh, Arceus… IM GOING TO GO BLIND!” The mocked fear in his voice caused Joyce to deadpan. Without another word, Joyce held the mirror to his face.

Seeing his new reflection for the first time, caused him to recoiled slightly. Davids stared at the foreign eyes, the golden hue from his iris caused a near hypnotic effect.

“Oh… I see… That's definitely going to freak out mum and dad.” Chuckling slightly at David's reaction, Joyce pulled away the mirror causing his attention to return to her.

She then placed the mirror down on the bed before retrieving the datapad from her lab coat. Tapping on it a few times Joyce moved to the foot of the bed and flipped the datapad around and showing its contents to David. 

“Alright, David we're going to test out your eyesight. All you need to do is read everything on this Snellen chart.” Joyce smiled as Davids focused on the chart.

“Alright…” David listed out each letter from top to bottom with ease, the last three lines seemed easier than when he joined the military.

Upon completion of the chart, Joyce had a giddy grin from ear to ear.

“Excellent, the chip worked as intended. I guess the change of eye colour was just a by-product of the procedure.” Returning to her datapad, there came a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Joyce beamed, the giddiness in her voice returning.

The door creaked open to reveal Joyce's Blaziken and Lucario. Both held an array of items In Talon's arms were three sandwich boxes and an array of chip packets, Fang, on the other hand, was carrying a tray of take away coffee cups.

“Joyce, since you refuse to leave his side we got you some food, ” Talon said as he entered the room.

“And I went and got some coffee, so how's he do….” Fang cut off seeing David sitting upright and looking at both of them with a second shine in his eyes. “Oh, he’s up.”

“And judging by the bewildered expression on his face he can understand you both.” Joyce giggled. “This is… Amazing.” David looked between the three. “I can understand every word, it's like they were just speaking English.”

David was grinning ear to ear, aside from the change in eye colour the procedure did exactly as intended. Shifting slightly to the side of the hospital bed, David stood up and looked down.

Without realizing he had spent the entirety of the last twenty minutes conversing with Joyce with no shirt on.

“Um… Any chance I could get my shirt back?” David asked, turning back to look at the trio.

“Oh yeah, almost forgot about that.” Fang being the first to respond.

Putting down the coffee cup tray he walked over to a chair adjacent to the hospital bed. Picking up a black t-shirt he started to walk back over to David.

“We needed to get it washed after a certain someone spilled some coffee on it.” His eyes drifted towards Talon.

“What it was an accident, I didn't know that the cup still had anything in it.” Talon glaring back at the Lucario.

“It's fine, no harm done.” David smiled unfolding the t-shirt. “I'm surprised that you could get it cleaned up so fast.”

“Sorry?” Fang looked back at David confused.

“You know, washing and drying a shirt takes time. I'm surprised that you could get it cleaned in such a short amount of time.” Joyce looked at Fang and Talon before looking back at David.

“David… you were out for a few hours.”

“Oh… Um… How long was I out?” Embarrassed by his assumption, David started scratching the back of his head.

“Close to eight,” Talon said taking a sip out of one of the coffee cups.

“Ohhh… Damn, that long huh...” David's mind wandered back to Lucy and the rest of shadow squad. “I was supposed to meet up with Lucy and the others after the procedure was done.”

David sat back on the bed, legs draped over the side. All he could do was look at the floor in disbelief that he was out of commission for that long.

“That's probably why they are in the lobby asking questions then…” Talon stared blankly at David before turning to Fang. “You want to go get them or should I.”

“Hey I had to go to Admin to get the coffee, all you had to do was go to the cafeteria downstairs.” Fang shot back with a growl, “You go.”

With that, the Blaziken put down the coffee cup and started walking towards the door. Talon made a small growl of annoyance as he left the room. During that time Joyce had snuck up beside David once again.

“Surreal isn't it,” whispering directly into Davids' ear causing him to jump.

‘Gah... What the hell, seriously. Someone should put a bell on her.’ David thought as his focus quickly shifted from the arguing pokemon to Joyce.

“S-surreal doesn't begin to cover it.” David shifted his head back towards the Lucario who was currently fiddling with one of the small sandwich containers. “Serious question though, how does he drink coffee out of those cups with that beak?”

Five seconds of stunned silenced passed before Joyce burst out laughing. Fang just smirked at David’s remark while managing to pop the lid of the sandwich container he was wrestling with. As Joyce's laughter began to subside, she wiped a small tear that had formed in her eye.

“Of all the questions you could have asked, I was not ready for that one.” Joyce still chuckling at Davids remark.

“The answer to which is with practice and great difficulty,” Fang smirked as he took a bite out of a sandwich.

That was all that was needed to make David chuckle. Joyce moved back towards the table and picked up a sandwich box of her own, it took Joyce less time to open before she started to snack away at it. The minutes passed as David and Fang talked and joked about tasks that humans could do that pokemon would mimic. The conversation stopped with the sound of a knock that came from the door, a few seconds later it was replaced with the sound of a jiggling of the doorknob.

 

“Soren I swear to Arceus above you are the biggest jinx in the region.” The unseen voice of Alice being heard before entering the room. “If there is any permanent damage I will kick your ass from here to Kanto.”

“Loch Ah knew thes would happen, Ah meant it as a joke. Ah, mean come on… Everyone at Oracle has been thru the procedure in a way or another without issue, whot war th' odds 'at thes would be th' straw 'at broke th' conkeldurrs back” The unmistakable accent of Soren trying to defend himself.

“*sigh*… would you two knock it off? I'm sure he’s been through enough and doesn't need you two bickering. Seriously you're giving me a headache.” Lucy said stepping into the room, with her hand on her forehead.

Soren and Alice were quick to follower her in, both staring daggers at the other. The last two in were Talon and Midnight. Talon walked over to Joyce as Midnight followed Lucy looking around the room nervously until her eyes locked with Davids. Like a Stantler in headlights, she stopped dead in her tracks. David looked back to Lucy and the other their eyes were in shock at the golden gaze that returned.

“Sup,” David stood up and lifted his hand in mock salute. The trio looked at each other in confusion, a minute passed before Lucy broke the silence.

“You feeling alright David, after the three of us didn't hear from you after the procedure we got a little worried.”

“I'm fine, well better than fine. My Vision has improved and I can now hear what pokemon are actually saying.” David replied with a grin.

“Yer eyes are freakin' me ut.” Soren chimed in with a slight recoil. A response that was quickly met with a quick and painful looking punch to the back of his head by a rather angry looking Alice.

“So… Doctor Joyce mind telling us why our newest recruit, the One we left in your… capable hands… started off with blue eyes and is now returned with golden ones.” The last part of Alice's questioning dripping in malice.

“Alice…” Lucy cut in, trying to calm her. “I'm sure there is a good reason for it, calm down. Now Doctor… if you will.”

“Wow, I'll be honest wasn't expecting that reaction.” David laughed before returning to his neutral stance. “There's nothing wrong, I had a bad reaction to one of the chips. The only issue is that it caused my iris to turn golden… apart from that, everything's fine.”

“He is right there was no way for us to predict that this might happen… bar having a psychic pokemon perform future sight.” Joyce moved closer to David to the point where she was basically hiding behind him.  
“Besides there's nothing wrong with having golden eyes, ain't that right Midnight.” Davids' eyes shifted to the Umbreon.

Midnight sat there completely lost in her own little world staring at David's new eyes. After a few prompts from David and a small nudge from Lucy, she seemed to snap out of it with a shake of her head.

“Sorry… Zoned out for a few seconds there.” The response getting a chuckle out of Talon and Fang, Blushing the blue rings on her body glowing slightly brighter. “What did you say?”

“Seems Soren is weirded out by my eyes, I think that there was nothing wrong with having them. Don't you agree?” A small chuckle escaped him seeing her initial reaction, however, the happiness of finally being able to understand the little Umbreon left him grinning ear to ear.

“Oh, is he?” Midnight looked at Soren for a brief second, before moving towards the hospital bed and hopping up beside David. “Does that mean my eyes freak you out?”

“I didn't mean it loch 'at. It's just weird tae me 'at he goes frae blue tae gold loch its nothin'” Soren broke out in a cold sweat. 

“You're just afraid that he’ll be the new eye candy on the block.” Mocked Midnight, causing the room to laugh as Soren's face crumples in annoyance.

As the laughter starts to die down, Midnight leaned on Davids side prompting him to give her a soft scratch behind her ears. An act which made her purr in contentment. After a few more minutes of explanations and a few playful put-downs that were directed at Soren, a low growl filled the room. This time it was David's turn to blush slightly as the focus was drawn back to him yet again.

“Welp seems someones hungry,” Alice chuckled.

“Should head down to the mess hall, Its pizza night.” Lucy smiled walking over the bed with a lower arm prompting the Umbreon to jump up onto her awaiting shoulder.

“Sounds good, I'll head down when I get the all clear to do so.” David turned to Joyce who had finished her sandwich and was now munching on some potato chips.

“Don’t need my permission, from what I can see your right as rain,” Joyce said, putting down her pack of chips. “I will ask you, however, to take it easy and if you have any problems, head back here immediately. My door is always open.” She finished with a playful wink.

With that, David thanked Joyce and her pokemon before following the others out of the hospital room. Walking down a relatively empty corridor David noticed something, Midnight seemed to be looking back at him from Lucy's shoulder. Not normal quick glances ether, she was just flat out staring at him. Normally this wouldn't bother David but this was different, she just seemed like she was in a trance.  
“I just messaged Sam, Let him know that you were alright David.” Piped up, Alice. “He's happy to hear that you are alright.”

“Yeah keptin has always hud distrust abit th' doc” Soren chimed in, looking over his shoulder at David.

“Oh… why is that?” Asked David, still trying to avoid Midnight's stare.

“Nobody knows,” it was Lucy's turn to speak. “Samuels been here longer than any of us, I’ve asked him about the distrust in her but he remains tight-lipped about it.”

“Ah, just got another message from him. He said that he has a few pizzas from the mess and that we should meet him at the rec room. ” Alice read from her Pokedex.

“I didn't know that those things doubled up as a messaging platform,” David said in surprise.

“Our models do, yours doesn't unfortunately.” Lucy turned her head to glance in David's direction. “All the more reason that you should work harder and get one though.”

As the group exited back out to the observation area David couldn't believe that it had gotten so dark out. The observation platform was now bathed in white light from hidden light fixtures. Before heading into the medical centre, the platform and oasis below were filled with the hustle and bustle of life but now all was quiet. There were still pokemon below on the oasis floor, scurrying from bushes to small dens whilst in the trees bird pokemon rest in their nests. All was at peace.

Continuing on the group reached the recreation room, on one of the couches, sat Samuel. He was munching on a slice of pizza when they arrived, in front of him was a coffee table with five pizza boxes piled high with the top one open with a few slices missing already.

“Really you couldn't have waited till we got here?” Lucy glared at Samuel.

“What I was hungry, plus I was the one who went and got them.” he smiled back, however that smiled didn't last when his eyes shifted to see David. “Oh sweet Arceus, what did that nutcase do to you.”

“There was… a hiccup.” David shrugged.

“I can see that, is it permanent?” Samuel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not sure, all we can do is wait and see,” David said nonchalantly as he walked around the couch before taking a seat.

The other followed suit, spreading out and getting comfortable.

“I hope you got me one with pinap on it,” Midnight purred, jumping from Lucy to the coffee table before strolling over to the pizza boxes and sniffing them.

“Ach come on Midnight, ye dornt pit pinap oan pizza it's a cardinal rule.” Laughed Soren.

“I don't mind it,” Smiled Alice, shifting over to the pizza boxes and going through them. “Bit of spice and sour never hurt a pizza.

“I hate sour pizza,” Lucy chuckled picking up a slice of mushroom pizza.

“Your pinap pizza is on the bottom Midnight,” Samuel said moving to help the Umbreon. “I felt dirty ordering it.”

The four of them carried on bickering over if pinap should be on pizza as David sat there in silence. Deciding on a slice of mushroom pizza, David just seemed to zone out as he watched the heated debate. It reminded him of home, a funny debate over nothing. Memories flooded his mind making him zone out further, a small nudge on his arm bringing him back to the realm of the living.

“Hrm…”

“Please tell them that pinap on pizza isn't a crime that is punishable by death.” Alice looked at David in hope that he would be on her side.

“I don't mind it, then again I'm not that fussy.” Smiled David before finishing off his slice.

Before too long a new topic was brought up for debate, and David went with it. Time seemed to speed up, David couldn't help but feel like he was getting closer to his teammates. Minutes turned to hours and suddenly it was nine minutes to midnight. David was the first to call it, the stress of the new environment mixed with the after-effects of the augmentation procedure seemingly taking its toll. After saying goodnight David b-lined it back to his quarters.

Opening the door the memories of the night flooded back, they had been so welcoming. All he could think of was his family back home in Verdanturf town. Moving closer to the bed David face-planted onto it, barely having the strength to get back up to change so he settled for just taking his shirt off.

‘Midnight was acting strange all night, though it wasn't as bad as back at the hospital.’ The thoughts of the way Midnight acted the entire night coming back to David as he stared at the ceiling. ‘I think I might have a word with Lucy about it tomorrow.’

Davids' eyes closed.


End file.
